“Oh my heavens,” Miss Grayson said.
She heard Prudence murmur a prayer under her breath.
For Delilah’s part, a cold numbness swept over her as she waited for tears that did not come. “She’s asked me to hurry home, in case…”
She could not quite finish the sentence. In case he dies tonight. It was a strange emotion that clogged her throat and made speech temporarily impossible.
Sadness, yes. Grief, of course. But more than that it was regret.
Regret that she might lose her father this very night and she still only knew him as well as she might a distant uncle. Her memories of him accumulated to a handful of cold, loveless images, sounds, and interactions.
She looked down at the ground as she took a deep breath. But, even so, he was her father. And she would be there for him in his time of need.
“I must go,” she said, already hurrying toward the door.
“Wait,” Miss Grayson called out. “I cannot let you rush off alone. I will come with you.”
“No, please,” Delilah said. “You ought to stay here with the others. I will be safe in my own home.”
Addie was frowning in concern as she worried her lower lip. “At least take one of Tolston’s men as a guard. A precaution,” she said quickly as Delilah went to protest.
Delilah hesitated. “But there are more of you here, and Everley believes that I am with you and—”
“Please.” Miss Grayson reached for her hand. “As you said, there are more of us. If danger arises, we can battle Everley ourselves. But I don’t like the thought of you alone on the road again with only your family’s footman as your companion.”
Delilah swallowed. Truth be told, she didn’t like the thought of being on the road without Rupert. She only felt safe these days when he was at her side.
As if reading her thoughts, Addie gave her a small smile. “Do it for our sake. I don’t believe Mr. Calloway would ever forgive us if we let you leave here without a guard.”
Delilah choked on a laugh that was inexplicably mixed with tears.
Strange how she couldn’t quite summon tears for her father’s imminent death, but the mere thought of Rupert’s fear for her safety made her want to weep like a watering pot.
Perhaps because she knew for certain that whether he loved her or not, his fear for her safety was genuine. His feelings for her were sincere and they were deep…whether or not they included love.
Her heart swelled as she nodded. “Yes, all right. I will send word to let you know when I’ve arrived safely.”
14
Most stakeouts were a tedious bore interspersed with the odd bit of action.
Luckily for Rupert, tonight was another story entirely.
Delilah’s recounting of that diary entry was proven correct and Everley proved himself to be punctual…even when it came to crime.
“There he is,” Tolston murmured. “Right on time.”
Sure enough, they watched Everley exit an unmarked coach toward the end of the block before disappearing into a warehouse.
Tolston moved to open the door. “Let us get this over and done with so we can get back to our ladies.”
Despite the circumstances, Rupert found himself battling a ridiculous grin. Our ladies.
He thought of Delilah.
My lady.
If she would have him. The thought made him hesitate for a second as he led Tolston and the other men to surround the warehouse in question.
She would say yes. She’d have to. Her reputation would be in tatters once word spread about her broken engagement. Even if the end of their betrothal was not her fault, there was no way she’d escape unscathed. She’d be tainted by scandal no matter how this night ended.
The thought had him growling low in his throat as he drew close enough inside the warehouse to spot Everley and the man he was to meet. A roughened chap—a sailor, most likely.
If he could, Rupert would murder Everley right here and now for what he’d done to Delilah. It was bad enough he’d nearly harmed her, but no matter how badly he paid for his crimes there was no avoiding the fact that Delilah would suffer because of her attachment to him, no matter how brief it might have been.
Marrying a marquess’s son would help, but for the first time since he’d left high society he found himself regretting it. Oh, he loved his life of freedom and intrigue, but his renegade ways would do little to salvage Delilah’s reputation among the ton.
He’d give anything to suddenly have the respect of the society he’d eschewed just so long as his bride received the same respect.
His bride. His lips twitched again with barely concealed giddiness and he was forced to chide himself. Now was definitely not the time to lose his head over a lady.
Even if she was his lady.
Even if she was his love.
He stilled behind a stack of crates as a fear that had been plaguing him struck him anew. What if she did not feel the same?
Oh, he knew that she was attracted to him—not even Delilah could fake that sort of passionate response to his kisses. And he suspected she liked him.
But did she love him?
Would she say yes when he proposed again? And if she did, would it be because she needed him or because she wanted him?
Did it matter?
Yes. Yes, it did.
Tolston’s presence at his side brought him back to the moment. They were here for a job. One that would ensure Delilah’s safety. Everything else could wait until she was safely in his arms, where she belonged.
Tolston gave a jerk of his head in a signal to move closer and Rupert nodded, gesturing to the men who waited behind them. A separate group would be closing in on the exits on the other side of the building in case Everley tried to run.
“It’s getting harder, my lord,” the sailor was saying as they drew close enough to hear.
Everley—that cold cruel man—he looked utterly unconcerned as he looked over the shipment the sailor had led him to.
“Don’t fret, Myers, it makes you look weak.”
The other man stiffened. “Sir, I’m merely pointing out that my men and I nearly got caught coming all the way into port, and—”
“Yes, as you mentioned with the last shipment,” Everley interrupted. “I told you then that I would handle it, did I not?”
The sailor shifted uneasily and Rupert shared a look with Tolston at Everley’s cold impatience.
“I’ll be inheriting a nice bit of land along the seaside soon enough, and our arrangement will resume under safer conditions.”
Rupert stiffened. Delilah had told him the details of her dowry and it included some land along the coast.
But Everley had said inherit.
“My bride will gift me the land on the sea that I require, and her untimely death will give me everything else I need.”
An icy fear gripped his heart as Rupert put the pieces together. The arranged marriage, his lack of attempt to woo her or even get to know her.
He’d never planned to keep her as his bride.
He just wanted to get the land that came with her dowry and then…what? Just kill her off? But why? Was he so very merciless? So undeniably evil?
Rupert’s mind was racing ahead of him as his gut turned to a heavy weight and ice crept into his veins. Why would he go to so much trouble to marry her and then kill her?
It made no sense. Unless he had another bride in mind…
He’d stopped paying attention to the conversation but Everley’s next words brought him back with a jolt.
“Do not worry about the details. The land will be mine as soon as I’m wed and now that I’ve been granted special license, I plan to get the deed done first thing in the morrow.”
The sailor let out a cackle. “Then my best wishes to you, sir.”
He planned to wed her tomorrow? Terror plagued him. If this man’s plans included a wedding in the morning, he must have eyes on her. Did he know she was not at her home?
When
he turned to face Tolston, the other man’s face was set and determined as he jerked a head toward the door. Go. Protect your woman, his stern gaze seemed to say.
Rupert was just about to leap into action when the sailor spoke again. “You’re marrying tomorrow and yet you’re here with me. Ain’t your bride-to-be waiting on you, my lord?”
Everley’s smile was cold. “Do not fret about my bride. She is in good hands. As we speak, my partner is ensuring that she will be ready, willing, and able to marry me at first light.”
My partner.
The words somehow felt more ominous than anything else Everley had said this night. Tolston had frozen as well and the other men were exchanging glances that held one question.
Who is Everley’s partner?
Since when did he work with an accomplice? If he was telling the truth—and he had no reason not to be—then that meant they’d underestimated him. They hadn’t properly planned. That meant he’d…
His heart plummeted into his stomach.
He’d left Delilah vulnerable.
He had to get to her. His mind was already working out the fastest way out of this warehouse without alerting Everley and his men to his presence. He could be out of here and back to the School of Charm before this partner had a chance to nab her.
“If your bride has any sense, she’ll have run for the hills by now,” the sailor said with another chuckle.
“If my bride had any sense, she’d have fled her own home years ago,” Everley answered, his voice so mild. So uncaring. He was talking about Delilah like she was some stranger, someone of no worth or merit.
It made him want to shove a hand through the man’s chest and rip out his cold, useless heart.
Rupert wanted to end her miserable father’s existence while he was at it. He’d never thought well of the old man, not even as a child, and any respect he might have had for him died a quick death when the man promised his beautiful, surprisingly sweet, incredibly strong, and utterly vulnerable only daughter to this vile man.
But now, what Everley was suggesting…
Her father could not have known that Everley intended to kill her…could he?
“You’re awfully sure of your partner,” the sailor said.
“As well I should be,” Everley said. “She is highly competent.”
His head whipped to the side to meet Tolston’s hard glare.
She.
Everley had said…she.
And just like that it clicked. The only person it could be. The one woman who’d been there all along, negotiating Delilah’s wedding and the dowry that would come with it.
The woman who’d sent Delilah off on her own in a carriage bound for her ruin.
Tolston edged toward the warehouse doors at the same time he did, and when they met outside, there was no debate about what next to do.
They had to protect their women.
Lord Tumberland met them as well. “What about Everley?” he asked.
Rupert shook his head. “If our men don’t grab him tonight, we’ll chase him down eventually.”
Tolston added, “Between the shipment we saw tonight and what we heard, we have more than enough to prove that he’s a criminal. But for right now…”
Rupert was already ahead of them, his blood pounding in his ears as panic and determination and a million emotions he never knew he could experience took over.
“You go to the school,” he said to Tolston and Tumberland. “Make sure the ladies are safe.”
“Where will you go?”
“Her family home,” he said. “Just in case Everley is right and Delilah has been caught.”
Tolston froze. “You think this partner he spoke of lives at her home?”
Rupert’s jaw clenched in anger. “I know it.”
Everything in him ached to head straight to the school.
She’d be at the school. She had to be. He was just being overly cautious by keeping an eye on her stepmother.
He’d make sure the stepmother was not a threat, and then he’d go to her. He’d seek her out at the school, and when he found her there safe and sound…
Well, then he wouldn’t let her out of his arms until she promised to marry him.
15
Delilah stared at the man lying unconscious on the ground before her, her mouth bone dry with horror. “Is he…” She tried to swallow. “Is he dead?”
“Hmm?” Her stepmother looked up from the letter she was reading as that blasted clock ticked away the hour. Her gaze fell on Delilah’s guard who’d been unceremoniously attacked and felled the moment they’d entered the house.
The baroness sniffed. “Really, Delilah. I never took you to be so morbid. Of course he is not dead.”
Delilah continued to stare at the man’s back, hoping to see some movement that would indicate breathing. She was not convinced her stepmother was correct.
“I never thought you to be one for dramatics either.” Her stepmother huffed as she set the letter down. “But first sneaking around your fiancé’s private study and then rushing off with your knight in shining armor like some sort of slattern.” She made a tsking noise as Delilah’s jaw fell.
Her mind was still struggling to catch up but she could not quite reconcile this new turn of events. It did not help that, aside from her guard’s attack, her visit to her family home felt absurdly…normal. The drawing room was still filled with that cloying scent, the servants still cowered in silence and ignored what was going on around them.
That blasted clock still ticked too loudly in the otherwise too-quiet room.
And yet…
She stared down at the man who’d been told to keep her safe.
He still had not moved.
“My father,” she started slowly, feeling like an absolute imbecile for having to ask. “His health…”
“Is the same as ever.” Her stepmother’s normally cool voice was laced with irritation. “Stubborn man. The old goat refuses to die.” Her mother’s sudden smile caught her off guard and she blinked. “But that’s all right. It’s for the best that he hung on this long. Just long enough for you to marry the man of my choosing.”
Delilah blinked again. “Your choosing?”
Her stepmother let out a short humorless laugh. “Delilah, dear. Your father has barely been alive, let alone awake, for two years now. You did not think that he had a hand in your betrothal, now did you?”
Delilah’s mouth opened but no sound came out.
“I’ve been handling all the decisions around here for a long time now.” Her eyes were hard when they landed on Delilah. “I’ve been running this household, raising his spoiled brat of a daughter, ensuring his properties are making money as his mind failed him. I’ve been doing it all…and for what?” She leaned forward. “Do you have any idea what your father left me in his will?”
Delilah swallowed and shook her head.
“Nothing,” her stepmother hissed. “A paltry allowance, barely fit for a pauper. Whatever was not entailed all goes to you and your precious dowry.” She sneered those last words, years of disdain finally breaking through that icy façade. “The land by the sea, the money…it’s all wrapped up in your dowry, you ungrateful little cur.”
Fear was stealing over her, finally…belatedly. She should have been terrified the moment she’d entered and realized that there was no doctor here, and then she should have screamed in horror when her stepmother’s footman and carriage driver took her guard down from behind.
She ought to have been fearful from the start, but she hadn’t because…this was home. And her stepmother had been as placid and cool as ever. They’d sat together in silence like they’d done a hundred times before as they waited for the carriage to be brought ‘round to take them to a soiree or a ball.
But now…
Now her stepmother’s words were beginning to register and understanding dawned. Her stepmother had formed an alliance with Everley. She’d been behind this from the start.
Ru
nning off with your knight in shining armor. She knew about the carriage accident and, what was more…she knew about Rupert.
That was what finally had terror setting in. Too late, perhaps, but at least she could say the fear was on behalf of another.
For an ungrateful, spoiled brat she supposed that was something to brag about. She probably ought to be worried about her own safety, but all she could think about was Rupert.
Was he safe? Had he found Everley?
Would he finally get his revenge?
Her gaze settled once more on the stranger who lay at her feet, seemingly forgotten by her stepmother.
Just so long as Rupert was safe. That was what mattered.
As for her…
She took a deep breath and lifted her head. Years of practice had her sliding into the role she’d adopted a lifetime ago. Leaning back in her seat, she squared her shoulders and feigned a bored apathy. “What do you plan to do with me now?”
“You’ll marry Everley, of course,” her stepmother said. “As planned.”
She too seemed to have caught herself and settled once more back into the role she’d perfected. Cool, calm, unperturbed, and unfeeling.
“How will that benefit you?” Delilah asked. “If I become Everley’s wife and he obtains the dowry…” Her voice trailed off as ice stole through her veins.
Delilah knew. Of course she figured it out. She was spoiled, perhaps, but not stupid.
Her stepmother gave her a small smile and Delilah caught a flash of triumphant cruelty in those beautiful blue eyes. “You will not be his wife for long.”
“He will murder me,” Delilah whispered. Her stepmother did not confirm the matter, but she did not need to. “He will end me and you will take my place.”
“Once your father finally dies, yes,” she said. Her eyes were starting to glow with pleasure. “And then all that ought have been mine, will be.”
It was clear that her stepmother was glad to be telling her this. Despite her calm, Delilah sensed a shift in her stepmother. A new energy.
Elation, perhaps. Triumph, definitely.
She’d won, and she knew it.
Meanwhile, Delilah hadn’t even known they’d been at war.
The Miseducation of Miss Delilah: A Sweet Regency Romance (School of Charm Book 3) Page 11
